Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Blindspot in America, by Elom K. Akoto {ends 10/23}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

The days went by fast, and Kamao and Lindsey only had a week and a half left to spend in Ghana. Mama Agatha and one of her maids set up the breakfast table. Kamao was the first to join them just as they were finishing up. 

“Good morning, Mama,” he said.

“Good morning. Where is Lindsey?”

“She’s in the bathroom getting ready; you know how women are, taking their time.”

Kamao grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the breakfast table, but Mama Agatha slapped the back of his hand. “Be a gentleman; I taught you better. Don’t you know how to be a gentleman and wait for your woman?” Kamao rubbed the back of his hand and quietly sat down, ashamed of himself.

“Why do you like Lindsey so much, Mama?” he asked after a moment of silence.

“She’s nice,” Mama Agatha said, still busy setting up the table.

“Her mother died when she was little. She had taught her well, from what she told me. But she was raised by her father after mother passed away.”

“Then her father had taught her well too,” Mama Agatha said.

Kamao is so basically good, but the world is trying to force him to accept that not everyone has such a kind heart and straight moral compass.

Official synopsis:

Kamao is the son of a prominent Ghanaian academic and incumbent minister of health and is devoted to all that America symbolizes. After immigrating to the United States in pursuit of higher education and the American Dream, he becomes unwittingly entangled with American politics when he meets Lindsey McAdams, the daughter of an influential, anti-immigration senator. As the couple’s feelings grow, so too does the senator’s animosity toward Kamao. Despite support from fellow immigrants Lazo, Ayefumi, and Dania—who follow American Dreams of their own—Kamao soon finds himself drawn into intrigues hidden from the American public that make him question himself and his adopted country. When Kamao is implicated in a murder, Lindsey’s loyalties are tested, Dania must decide if she is willing to risk her own future and security for the sake of justice, and Kamao discovers how far he’ll go to fulfill his American Dream.

Kamao has spent his whole life dreaming of living in America. When he finally is accepted to college and moves to begin his dream, his first roommate in his first week makes him question whether it’s meant to be. But he presses on, confident that most people are still good.

His optimism seems well placed going forward, as he meets a beautiful classmate, and they both fall swiftly in love. Unfortunately, his heart is too far gone when he realizes that Lindsey’s father is a renowned anti-immigration senator. In the way perhaps only young people have such unassailable confidence, they’re both sure their love can conquer all. 

While Kamao’s main interest is his happy life with Lindsey, he also continues to help others in the community of immigrants who have come to feel like his family in America. They all experience struggles, but their faith in the American dream never wanes. 

The prologue of the book tells readers that Kamao ends up in prison, but the story truly needs to be read to uncover how something so awful happens to such a good man. The book earns 4 out of 5 stars and serves as an amazing illustration of the struggles of life in America when one is in opposition to those with privilege. 

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Becki Bayley is the wife of a racecar guy and the mother of two amazing kids. See what they’re up to on her Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Blindspot in America!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 23rd, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be chosen the next day and notified via email, and must respond within 24 hours, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. and Canada residents only, please.

Good luck!

Blindspot in America, by Elom K. Akoto